Its 287 miles NE of me and it was pretty smoky yesterday and this morning. I was in San Francisco the last two days and it was quite smokey there as well as in Marin County (north of SF across the Golden Gate Bridge) and all the way thru Silicon Valley on the way home.

Here's the air quality index in Santa Cruz a few minutes ago. It was 170 an hour ago.

It is sad and my full sympathies as well for all touched by this. Forest fires are a part of nature and to some extend need to happen as it is a cycle. I had a great talk to a forester that worked for the Canadian gov't up in the Northern Bruce earlier this year about it. He has recently (last year) been out west to fight the fires and long story short yes it is very sad for those that are affected. They do do their damndest to save all property and ensure everyone is safe. Not sure there is a solution to this problem much beyond what Smokey the Bear was preaching years ago. Better fire fighting and spotting techniques I suppose.

I have good friends in Paradise who made it big in IT about 30 years ago and built their dream house (16,000 sf) there. Burned to the ground. Their house was featured in a video that I’ll link here if I can find it.

They need to start doing controlled burns again,, which they stopped doing years ago, that is why these fires get so bad, years of old stuff on the forest floor waiting for a spark.

From L.A. Times:

“The fires in So. Cal are urban interface fires and have NOTHING to do with forest management. Come to SoCal and learn the facts & help the victims,” the Pasadena Firefighters Assn. said on Twitter.

Experts have also said forest management was not a factor in California’s two most destructive fires: the Camp, which burned more than 6,000 structures this week in Paradise, and the Tubbs fire last year in wine country.

Forest thinning would not have stopped the Camp or the Tubbs. Fueled by dry grass growing amid scattered pine and oak trees, the Camp tore across land thinned by flames just 10 years ago. The Tubbs burned grassy oak woodlands, not timber land."

Right now in Oakland we have temperatures in the high 60's, 35 mph winds and humidity is about 30%. There has been no rain at all yet even though it's officially rain season, which means we haven't have real rain since maybe April or May. Any fire just burns everything and races very fast. The neighborhood where I live was completely burned in 1991 - 3500 houses and 28 dead. I was told by someone who saw it that the whole neighborhood, 40 townhouses, burst into flames at once..

Anyone who thinks that there's an easy solution to this, and that he knows more than Cal Fire, is completely wrong.

Right now in Oakland we have temperatures in the high 60's, 35 mph winds and humidity is about 30%. There has been no rain at all yet even though it's officially rain season, which means we haven't have real rain since maybe April or May. Any fire just burns everything and races very fast. The neighborhood where I live was completely burned in 1991 - 3500 houses and 28 dead. I was told by someone who saw it that the whole neighborhood, 40 townhouses, burst into flames at once..

Anyone who thinks that there's an easy solution to this, and that he knows more than Cal Fire, is completely wrong.

There is no easy solution and my thoughts are with all the people out there. Has there been a state of emergency called by the Feds? You guys need help and quick.

While on a much smaller scale, South Africa had a similar devastating fires in Knysna last year and in Cape St Francis some five years ago.
Security cam footage showed just how fast a fire can spread when fanned by the winds that the fire itself generates. I saw how a scene of peaceful indigenous bush became a raging fire in under four minutes...! Burning embers were driven by the winds and get caught in flammable nooks and crannies, fueling further fires.

South Africa builds homes mostly in bricks and mortar, which are less likely to burn, but grass thatching is popular roofing material in places.

Not really any different than rebuilding houses on the beach after every hurricane.

Which also needs to be stopped, or at least they are on the own, no insurance or FEMA support.

Every time I read or see about disasters like these I am more than glad I live where I do.

People will talk about the taxes and snow in New York State but very seldom do we have things like this here. Sure snow melt can cause some localized flooding and a wind storm may knock down a tree now and then but noting to compare with California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana and so on!

Not really any different than rebuilding houses on the beach after every hurricane.

Which also needs to be stopped, or at least they are on the own, no insurance or FEMA support.

Every time I read or see about disasters like these I am more than glad I live where I do.

People will talk about the taxes and snow in New York State but very seldom do we have things like this here. Sure snow melt can cause some localized flooding and a wind storm may knock down a tree now and then but noting to compare with California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana and so on!

You have to look at the big picture. While you don't have catastrophic fires or earthquakes or hurricanes, you do have weather that gets extreme in the Winter and countless people die or are injured dealing with it, in car accidents and house fires and injuries and deaths associated with snow shoveling. Your cars and trucks rust out and become junk much faster than ours in California, and your climate won't allow you to grow enough food to sustain your population, so you import it from us. We are a very big country, third largest population in the world, with an enormous economy, and we're all in this together. We each benefit from the other and we all have to sustain the place together.

Not really any different than rebuilding houses on the beach after every hurricane.

Which also needs to be stopped, or at least they are on the own, no insurance or FEMA support.

Every time I read or see about disasters like these I am more than glad I live where I do.

People will talk about the taxes and snow in New York State but very seldom do we have things like this here. Sure snow melt can cause some localized flooding and a wind storm may knock down a tree now and then but noting to compare with California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana and so on!

You have to look at the big picture. While you don't have catastrophic fires or earthquakes or hurricanes, you do have weather that gets extreme in the Winter and countless people die or are injured dealing with it, in car accidents and house fires and injuries and deaths associated with snow shoveling. Your cars and trucks rust out and become junk much faster than ours in California, and your climate won't allow you to grow enough food to sustain your population, so you import it from us. We are a very big country, third largest population in the world, with an enormous economy, and we're all in this together. We each benefit from the other and we all have to sustain the place together.

+1
Well said. Every place has its drawback. Too hot, too cold, to dry, too wet.
To those who say 'move to where it isn't any of the above' I say, OK find it.
Then tell me how it will support 350 million people.

Every place has its drawback. Too hot, too cold, to dry, too wet.
To those who say 'move to where it isn't any of the above' I say, OK find it.
Then tell me how it will support 350 million people.

Anyway, thanks for the veggies.

Bugs!! Don't for get bugs!! We don't have any for the most part. I've had one mosquito in 5 years. It's too dry. No rain Apr-Nov. I've heard that some places have mosquitos the size of house finches.

BTW, we've had hazardous air quality here since Thurs, Over 100 and as high as 190 for PM2.5. Safe levels of PM2.5 are 0-50. PM2.5 are the most hazardous particles because they are small, get into your lungs and possibly into bloodstream where they create all sorts of health issues. I REALLY feel bad for those people that are close and downwind of the fires.They are really suffering.

I've never considered getting a whole-house air filter but we are this week.

Every place has its drawback. Too hot, too cold, to dry, too wet.
To those who say 'move to where it isn't any of the above' I say, OK find it.
Then tell me how it will support 350 million people.

Anyway, thanks for the veggies.

Bugs!! Don't for get bugs!! We don't have any for the most part. I've had one mosquito in 5 years. It's too dry. No rain Apr-Nov. I've heard that some places have mosquitos the size of house finches.

BTW, we've had hazardous air quality here since Thurs, Over 100 and as high as 190 for PM2.5. Safe levels of PM2.5 are 0-50. PM2.5 are the most hazardous particles because they are small, get into your lungs and possibly into bloodstream where they create all sorts of health issues. I REALLY feel bad for those people that are close and downwind of the fires.They are really suffering.

I've never considered getting a whole-house air filter but we are this week.

They need to start doing controlled burns again,, which they stopped doing years ago, that is why these fires get so bad, years of old stuff on the forest floor waiting for a spark.

From L.A. Times:

“The fires in So. Cal are urban interface fires and have NOTHING to do with forest management. Come to SoCal and learn the facts & help the victims,” the Pasadena Firefighters Assn. said on Twitter.

Experts have also said forest management was not a factor in California’s two most destructive fires: the Camp, which burned more than 6,000 structures this week in Paradise, and the Tubbs fire last year in wine country.

Forest thinning would not have stopped the Camp or the Tubbs. Fueled by dry grass growing amid scattered pine and oak trees, the Camp tore across land thinned by flames just 10 years ago. The Tubbs burned grassy oak woodlands, not timber land."

. We have controlled burns hete and what is burned off is dry grass and shrubs, not tree thinning. Burning off the dry grass and shrubs helps greatly.

Last edited by zigzagguzzi on Tue Nov 13, 2018 5:40 am; edited 1 time in total

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